Release & Unwind
“It’s been one of those hectic days. The alarm didn’t ring. I had to elbow my way through the crowds at rush hour. There was a police investigation on the subway line – stuck underground for 45 minutes; arrived late for work. My boss was fuming. I didn’t make it for the conference call, failed to meet the pending deadline. Glued to my desk for the rest of the day, I felt the tension creeping in, anxiety gripping and my body consternating. My mind was racing frantically, bouncing from one unfulfilled task to the other. My lower back was killing me, my hips stifled, my legs heavy. I had burned out.” These are the words of my student who came for a private session last week after a day of frenzy and escalating tension.
In yoga the state “burn out” doesn’t really exist. It is a projection of our mind, an illusion that we have created to race with the ever-rising demands for success. In fact, “burn out” is a contemporary phenomenon, a product of the modern mind, depositing high levels of stress in the body and inflating the demands of the ego. Each day we have to meet expectations, deadlines. The stakes are high. We need to live up to a certain level of achievement, of acclaim, otherwise we failed. The illusion of failure lurks like a demon into everyone’s life. No one is immune against it. It can strike anyone, anytime. A lot of my private students lament that they made a mess of their lives, didn’t turn out to be the person they hoped to be, should have been so much further along, let too many opportunities pass them by, never developed their gifts, or failed at marriage, parenting, loving, living. I open my heart to their pain and feel my own dread to non-success surface to intermingle with theirs as we sit together in the collective stew of failure. Conditioned to anticipate failure, we freeze in the face of possibility, fearful of the disgrace of falling short of our potential. We convince ourselves that we don’t care as we cycle downward into failures seductive web. We betray our greatness in resignation to a failed existence. But most of these “failure” tattoos are a reflection of society’s distorted perception of counter-posing “success” and “failure”. In yoga we look at a harmonious way of unifying these polarities and coming to a state of availability when all obstacles become learning modalities that continually agitate the soul into greater awareness. What would our lives be if we knew there was no such thing as failure? Probably, filled with the buoyant certainty that fertilizes confidence and self-esteem, we would jump full fledge into our dreams – unstoppable!
Once we free our minds from grip of expectations, how can we dissolve stress deposits in the body? There is so much tension that physically builds up every day. From the constant buzz in the city, which we have subconsciously habituated ourselves to, into the envelope of thoughts emitted from every individual that affects us both physically and mentally, to our personal list of to-do’s, our sedentary jobs and the fashioned life style all leading to an alienation from our natural selves and the organic flow. Yoga asana and relaxation are the best tools to slow down and ease discomfort after a hectic day on the go. While you work out any kinks in your neck and upper back you will counter compression from sitting and also move prana or life force forward to help bring you home to your body once again. It’s time to unwind: Release tension and find stillness at the end of a busy day with poses that stretch the back, the hips and the hamstrings. Discover the gift of inhabiting your body with a tranquil sense of inner knowing and ease!
Yogea Evening Tension Relieving Routine: Release and Unwind
This Yogea evening tension relieving routine is designed to alleviate any tension build-up from the day. It starts off with gentle rib cage isolations to open the whole spine and neck and is followed by deeper twists to decompress the spine and open space in the pelvis. The quads are then opened with a massaging semi-table top position and the spine is rounded to release tension. Forward bend twists are introduced to sooth the hamstrings and open the mid back. A variation of flamingo, eagle and modified triangles are interwoven into a down-dog based warm up to stretch the legs – hamstrings, IT band, and calves. Gate pose twists further open the sides of the waist and the inner thigh muscles and low and high lunges provide a deep groin and psoas stretch. Innovative shoulder openers are coupled with hamstring lengtheners and a balancing ankle to knee twist brings a soothing glute stretch. More seated bound spinal twists and hip openers are integrated with forward bends and neutrally rotated standing postures that target all ligaments and tendons of the legs and the muscles of the back. The winding down section offers valuable quad openers paired with hero pose and ankle to knee variations. Soothing forward bends bring the focus in and a reclining butterfly variation that opens the hips allows for deep relaxation at the end. The sequence exerts a soothing effect on all body parts that tend to accumulate stress after a busy day.
Leave a Reply